Permits

Has anyone heard of having to get a permit to seal, stripe or patch a pothole? We were overlaying a section of parking lot today and were cited and given a stop work order. I went to th city to get a permit and they saind they wanted 5 sets of drawings of what we are doing. I told them we were not changing the layout but it didn't matter. I asked them if all we were doing was a restripe and nothing else if we needed a permit and they said yes. They want drawings and 5 days to review them. I was always under the impression that a seal and stripe never need a permit.

OK if this isn't an April Fool's joke... That's nuts! What kind of Gestapo Inspections/Planning department does your town have? My first stop would be the City Council with a loud and obnoxious complaint about excessive government interference. Next would be the paper. Then the TeeBee station. Both with a long explanation about excessive city regulation costing property owners beaucoup bucks. Round here, after you get your Certificate of Occupancy ( CO ), the city doesn't have a say unless you create an unsafe situation or a nuisance.

They are likely regulating parking spaces per square foot of building different than they used to. I have changed layouts over sealer because of it here.

SD said about what I would. Not for patching a pothole, I NEVER heard of that. But if you are doing something like overlay or sealing they might use that to say it's not a "re-stripe" since you are "blacking out" the entire lot. And if they changed parking regulations & got a strict code inspector like they did in a nearby town they could make you do some changes to meet new ordinances. (They don't have city ordinances in Bugtussle NC, they would have to get up off the couch on the porch to go to town hall & make some up...an evertime they get together to do that they decide to jess go huntin or fishin instead) Also locally we got a fire inspector about 5 years ago that hacked everybody off because he started enforcing what was already on the books. No parking zones, fire lanes, & such, and that applied to plain re-stripes but didn't require re-layout except to comply with ADA regs. and fire codes people had just been ignoring for years. No permit needed if you just got them to come out & tell you what had to be done to "fix" things beforehand they would be sure to OK it. A few guys didn't check 1st and got call-backs to fix things. It's very unusual to want a full set of prints though, unless they are ultra-strict, or you are out of your home area and that inspector's brother-in-law has the local pavin, sealin & stripin biddness...

Sounds like you really pxxxed someone off at the city. Only thing I could think of is from an ADA standpoint, but that wouldn't have anything to do with a pothole, so therefor have to assume you are PULLING OUR COLLECTIVE LEGS

It's true we are kind of relaxed in Bugtussle, but even our uptight Stepford-town neighbor Cary, NC ( C oncentrated A rea of R elocated Y ankees) and its new twin Clayton, NC ( C ary- L ike A rea Y ankees T ake O ver N ext) have NOTHING like that on the books. Cary has some tough Inspectors, scary cookie-cutter perfection, but no Big Brother interference. You can't have neon signs cause they are tacky, no Christmas lights in the bushes except at Christmas, but no plans required for a restripe.

One of the cities in my area told me that I needed a permit to do a restripe as well. It is possible that the person who told me the rules did not really know them. But I just decided not to work in that city for now.

Last year I needed to get a permit to work on Sunday with the health dept to fill cracks, seal and stripe in southern, CT if I didn't the police gave you a ticket.In my area a painter forgot top put his contrators license sticker on his backup trucks bumper and got a $750 ticket and six months probation I guess some have it a bit easier than others.

I work have sunday and i don't need a permit to work in ct ps You do need to be licensed

If the city would not accept a simple sketch of the layout, and wants full professional plans, I would fight that like crazy.. Plans can be very expensive to have someone produce, but if you can draw them up or create them yourself on the computer that wouldn't be too big of a deal.

Asphaltman wrote on Apr 2, 2005:Go to #10

If the city would not accept a simple sketch of the layout, and wants full professional plans, I would fight that like crazy.. Plans can be very expensive to have someone produce, but if you can draw them up or create them yourself on the computer that wouldn't be too big of a deal.

You may not think it is a big deal but it still takes time and no one wants to pay for that time, and we all know time is money in our business. Fighting city hall also takes time and it is hard to win with them. I have always said the only thing that will make me move from ware I live would be the city and there permit requirements. I would sure let it be known to the city farthers that there undue regulations cost the customer more. I would also send the city a token bill for the added work/requirements.

This is no BS. I told the guy he was crazy and I didn't need a permit. He called his supervisor who came to the job. After they both insisted I go get a permit, I basically told they to f-off. Blood boiling, i drove to city hall, told building and safety what I was doing they told me fill out the application and submit 5 copies of drawing (non professional is okay). I then asked a series of questions : permit for restripe=yes, permit for seal= yes, permit for asphalt no striping= ask engineering. I asked engineering and he laughed about needing a permit. I showed him my citation and he took my card said he would call me back. This happened on thursday and I will go down and submit plan on monday. I am hoping that the young punk code enforcemnt dude has already had his badge, yes badge, shoved up his ?!@ by his supervisor. And that I may only need to get a striping permit. Otherwise i will have a sit down with the city manager. I brought up the whole thing that if I incorrectly stripe, the customer wouold be sued by the disabled person and the city wouldn't be part of that (for private property) but he said they have so many old folks calling about ada issues in existing buildings that they require this BS.

I had a young state worker stop once and ask me what I was doing sealing his road. I was sealing a parking lot of a factory in Michigan on a state highway, guess you are suppose to get a permit and have signs posted for shoulder work ahead. I still haven't bought a permit to this day. We weren't in the road at all. It's all just a money game. We have to get a 50.00 mechanical permit now to change propane companies.

The license and permit game for the most part is simply a "non-tax" revenue source for the local political body. The fees are easy to raise without losing votes. We have one local city "to remain nameless" (but the home of Professor Harold Hill's conservatory) where you must now have a "general business license" for $ 50 in order to apply for your "contractors license" for $ 50. The process alone is design to let everyone know who has the power and who is the servant. The process is a 6 step process with 3 separate trips to the building department office (maximum 2 clerks) 4 trips up or down 2 flights of stairs (elevator circa 1903) and a final insult to pay the $ 2 notary fee (cash only) to the clerk in the treasurer's office to have your application notarized. You must appear in person and it must be the original applicant appearing. Last Spring we were called by an inspector who saw our crew but was to busy to stop, to let us know that a permit IS required for filling potholes within the Gary, IN (oops, it slipped out) city limits. I'm certain that the permit (minimum fee ) is to cover the inspectors time to check on our work. Keep in mind that I also believe in the tooth fairy and that somewhere in this country there is a pig that can sing the national anthem. It seems to me that it's best to maintain an attitude in some middle ground between " catch me if you can -- and then I'll get a license and permit" and "I find it easier to ask for forgiveness, rather than permission" is required. We now spend over $ 3,000.00 in just annual license renewal fees to the local cities towns and counties along with some additional cost for specialized bonds to several of these agencies. And always come up with one or two new places that need to be subsidized every season. Sorry to vent on this topic ----- it's one of my special "hot buttons" --- when they call it by another name and expect everyone to just go along willingly. like "fact finding mission" instead of "vacation to the south of France" "special legislative assistant" instead of " summer job for my niece" " town hall meetings to listen to my constituents" instead of a way to look busy and interested during the months I'm home when Congress or the State house isn't in session. I'm most jealous of the lady that gets the $2 notary fees -- in cash -- from literally every business in town. SWEEEEEEEEET !!!

Next time you go in there take in your own Notary and have them stamp your papers in front of the city clerk just to see what happens. It may cost you a few bucks but I bet it would be worth it just to hear what they tell you.

The permits may be a way for little people to project a little power and collect a little money for the coffers, But most permit systems are also supported by the existing businessmen. Helps keep competition out.

Heh. My Mexican workers keep telling me "Anglos are crazy full of rules!" Could be true.

My brother has his business in clearwater Fl It is nuts what he goes thru . ie.. to restripe you must submit plans drawn to scale to two separate departments wait for the approval then once the striping is finished an inspector has to come and sign off on the drawings to ok the work then and only then will you be able to be paid?

Just an update. I have gone through 3 plan checks and still no permit. The last plan check asked me to identify the HC ramps on the plans. The ramps are built up asphalt and protrude into the accessible asile so they must be replaced with the concrete ones. Add another $10,000 to the bid and close the buisness for a day while we do this. I used to wonder why I saw alot of companies sealing and striping on sat and sun, now I know why. Lucky for us the owner is afraid of being sued by the wheeli wheelies so he said to do what ever it takes to make it compliant and has already paid for the whole paving job, even though its only half done.

As my right hand man (actually right arm) says....."Amedican peepoh" as he rolls his eyes.